Working on an oil rig, hundreds of kilometres out to sea, things can get a bit lonely. Visitors of any sort are unusual. Those on four legs even more so.

Last Friday, workers on a Chevron oil rig in Thailand were shocked to discover a lost dog, swimming in the ocean 220 kilometres from the coast (135 miles).

Rushing to save the shivering pup, who was now clinging desperately to the bottom of the rig, the crew tried for fifteen minutes to get a loop around his neck. At last they managed to grab him, just as the seas were becoming rougher, hauling the creature up onto the platform.

(Vitisak Payalaw)

Once dried off, the lucky little pooch was given water and pieces of meat. The crew even set him up a kennel inside, and he was appropriately dubbed “Boonrod”, which is a Thai phrase for those survivors who benefit from good karma.

“His eyes were so sad. He just kept looking up just like he wanted to say, ‘Please help me,'” one of the workers, Vitisak Payalaw told CNN.

“At that moment, whoever saw this, they would just have to help.”

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No one knows how the pup happened to find himself so far out to sea, though the Bangkok Post thinks he probably fell off a fishing trawler.

Nevertheless, after a day and a half of some much-needed TLC, the dog was already looking better. Hitching a ride back to land, the triumphant-looking animal was pampered by veterinarians and an animal rescue group, called Watchdog Thailand.

After a long bath, the experts declared him in good health and gave him shelter to fully recover.

(Watchdog Thailand)

Boonrod doesn’t have a permanent family just yet, but Payalaw says if no one comes for the dog, he plans on adopting him. From the look of things, the dog probably wouldn’t mind that arrangement.